Doors To Mirrors (Excerpt 46) Fall

Stepping back and being very careful not to end up back out in the rainstorm, Viktor mimics his entrance to the building. Pushing the main door open, he makes sure it swings all the way until it hits the interior wall. Holding it there for several seconds, he then turns and shuts the main door completely. It is very dark in the room except for the occasional flicker of lightning and a soft glow from somewhere unknown. After all, this is a dream where not everything is revealed as precise as in real life.

Squinting his eyes, partly because of the darkness and partly because he is afraid to look at the wall fearing it will be just that, an empty wall, he turns. There it is; the new door, the mysterious next step to take his dreams deeper into this magical mystical world of the subconscious. A wide smile beams from his face as he slowly reaches for the handle. He is impressed with how easily it turns but once open, his smile fades slightly as he looks at the old wooden steps covered in what must be years of dust. Looking down as they descend, there does not appear to be an end, only darkness and depth.

Viktor presses his foot down on the first step to test their sturdiness and surprisingly they are very solid. Moving downward, he takes his time and tries to see where this staircase will end but so far, it seems to continue into a deeper realm. Suddenly, his foot slips on the dust and he begins to fall. Desperately he grabs hold of the rail but it breaks causing him to spiral down now free-falling into this deep well of empty space. He is thinking to himself, “If you fall in a dream and land, you die,” and then he is hit with the impact and pain from his fall as he closes his eyes tightly.